Bibliography

Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

Hodge Podge was a short-lived manuscript magazine launched by Mrs. Rossetti in late May 1843
in order to occupy her children
during a period when Mrs. Rossetti, on doctor's orders, took her husband Gabriele to Hastings,
then to France, and eventually to Paris, in an effort to cure his severe case of bronchitis. The
children remained in London in the care of their aunt Margaret.
Although long thought to have contained early work by the four children, the only known
surviving copy, in the
Angeli papers in the library of the U. of British Columbia, suggests otherwise.

The Angeli copy, which is entirely in the hand
of Mrs. Rossetti, may be a copy of a lost original. If it is itself the original, then most
and probably all
of the contents are the work of Mrs. Rossetti. In any case, the contents of the final
four numbers
are hers and not her children's since all of those works are dated from Paris.

Hodge-Podge was originally intended to appear in weekly numbers,
but after the first three
issues (20 and 27 May and 3 June), the next four (and final) issues appeared more irregularly,
on 12 and 23 July and 12 and 15 August. Most important, each of these final issues is
dated from Paris and their contents are all Paris-related, indicating that
Mrs. Rossetti is the author of the contents of the final four numbers of
Hodge-Podge. We know that all four Rossetti
children
promised contributions because WMR and DGR both mention
several works in particular (see
Family
Letters, II. 16-18
). None of these works
are in the extant Hodge-Podge nor is the extant
material in the first
three numbers known to be the work of any of the children.

WMR's comments on the venture are
brief: “I cannot recall much about the Illustrated Scrap-book in which we all
appear to have co-operated. But I recollect the Hodge-podge, which had been a still
more juvenile attempt in the same line”
(
Family
Letters, II. 16
). More pertinent is
DGR's description written at the time, in a letter sent to his mother while she was still
in Paris: “The Illustrated Scrap-book continues swimmingly. It improves with every
number. Of the number on which William and myself are at present employed I am particularly
proud. It contains some of my choicest specimens of sketching. Its pages are likewise
adorned with two poetic effusions by Christina, the one entitled Rosalind and the other
Corydon's Resolution, both of which are very good, especially the latter, which elicited
the warm admiration of Dr. Heimann. Maria has also authorized me to insert in the
victorious Scrap-book her Vision of Human Life, originally written for the fallen
Hodge-podge, the ‘weekly efforts’ contained in which have I fear given
their last gasp, since not a single perfect number has appeared since your departure.
William has written an enormous quantity of Ulfred the Saxon, which increases in interest
as it proceeds. His description of the battle of Hastings and death of Harold is
acknowledged by every one to be excellent” (see
Family
Letters, II. 18
). This passage suggests that
Mrs. Rossetti and the children were each active on the project on different ends but that
the children were less resolute in their efforts than was Mrs. Rossetti. What they did
eventually produce—the works mentioned by DGR—must have lost their
relevance to the periodical project when Mrs. Rossetti and her husband returned home
from Gabriele's rest cure.

Many years later when
DGR suggested in a letter to his mother (dated 20 May 1873) that the
“The Blessed
Damozel” was written for Hodge Podge, he seems to have been mistaken, unless perhaps he had written a version of the poem as
early as 1843, which is unlikely given his interests at that time. The Hodge Podge mutated into a new title, the Illustrated Scrap-book, but the whole project
was defunct by August of 1843, four years before “The Blessed
Damozel” was written (see DGR's letter of 14 August 1843,
Family
Letters, II. 18
and
Fredeman,
Correspondence,
73. 134
).